Semiotics, definition of: Loosely defined as 'the study of signs' or 'the theory of signs', what Saussure called 'semiology' was: 'a science which studies the role of signs as part of social life'. Saussure's use of the term sémiologie dates from 1894 and Peirce's first use of the term semiotic was in 1897. Semiotics has not become widely institutionalized as a formal academic discipline and it is not really a science. It is not purely a method of textual analysis, but involves both the theory and analysis of signs and signifying practices. Beyond the most basic definition, there is considerable variation amongst leading semioticians as to what semiotics involves, although a distinctive concern is with how things signify, and with representational practices and systems (in the form of codes). In the 1970s, semioticians began to shift away from purely structuralist (Saussurean) semiotics concerned with the structural analysis of formal semiotic systems towards a 'poststructuralist''social semiotics' - focusing on 'signifying practices' in specific social contexts.
Sign: A sign is a meaningful unit which is interpreted as 'standing for' something other than itself. Signs are found in the physical form of words, images, sounds, acts or objects (this physical form is sometimes known as the sign vehicle). Signs have no intrinsicmeaning and become signs only when sign-users invest them with meaning with reference to a recognized code. Semiotics is the study of signs.
Signifier (//signifiant//): For Saussure, this was one of the two parts of the sign (which was indivisible except for analytical purposes). In the Saussurean tradition, the signifier is the form which a sign takes. For Saussure himself, in relation to linguistic signs, this meant a non-material form of the spoken word - 'a sound-image' ('the psychological imprint of the sound, the impression it makes on our senses'). Subsequent semioticians have treated it as the material (or physical) form of the sign - something which can be seen, heard, felt, smelt or tasted (also called the sign vehicle).
Signified (//signifié//): For Saussure, the signified was one of the two parts of the sign (which was indivisible except for analytical purposes). Saussure's signified is the mental concept represented by the signifier (and is not a material thing). This does not exclude the reference of signs to physical objects in the world as well as to abstract concepts and fictional entities, but the signified is not itself a referent in the world (in contrast to Peirce's //object//). It is common for subsequent interpreters to equate the signified with 'content' (matching the form of the signifier in the familiar dualism of 'form and content').
Iconic: A mode in which the signifier is perceived as resembling or imitating the signified (recognizably looking, sounding, feeling, tasting or smelling like it) - being similar in possessing some of its qualities (e.g. a portrait, a diagram, a scale-model, onomatopoeia, metaphors, 'realistic' sounds in music, sound effects in radio drama, a dubbed film soundtrack, imitative gestures) (Peirce).
Indexical: A mode in which the signifier is not purely arbitrary but is directly connected in some way (physically or causally) to the signified - this link can be observed or inferred (e.g. smoke, weathercock, thermometer, clock, spirit-level, footprint, fingerprint, knock on door, pulse rate, rashes, pain) (Peirce).
Symbolic: A mode in which the signifier does not resemble the signified but which is arbitrary or purely conventional - so that the relationship must be learnt (e.g. the word 'stop', a red traffic light, a national flag, a number) (Peirce).
Denotation: The term refers to the relationship between the signifier and its signified. Denotation is routinely treated as the definitional, 'literal', 'obvious' or 'commonsense' meaning of a sign, but semioticians tend to treat it as a signified about which there is a relatively broad consensus. For Barthes, a denotative sign existed within what he called the firstorder of signification. In this framework connotation is a further sign (or signs) deriving from the signifier of a denotative sign. However, no clear distinction can be made between denotation and //connotation//.
Connotation: The socio-cultural and personal associations produced as a readerdecodes a text. The term also refers to the relationship between the signifier and its signified. For Barthes, connotation was a second order of signification which uses the denotative sign (signifier and signified) as its signifier and attaches to it an additional signified. In this framework connotation is a sign which derives from the signifier of a denotative sign (so denotation leads to a chain of connotations).
Paradigm: A paradigm is a set of associated signifiers which are all members of some defining category, but in which each signifier is significantly different. In natural language there are grammatical paradigms such as verbs or nouns. In a given context, one member of the paradigm set is structurally replaceable with another. The use of one signifier (e.g. a particular word or a garment) rather than another from the same paradigm set (e.g. adjectives or hats) shapes the preferred meaning of a text. Paradigmatic relations are the oppositions and contrasts between the signifiers that belong to the same paradigm set from which those used in the text were drawn.
Structuralism: The primary concern of the Structuralists is with systems or structures rather than with referential meaning or the specificities of usage (see //Langue// and //parole//). Structuralists regard each language as a relational system or structure and give priority to the //determining// power of the language system (a principle shared by poststructuralists). They seek to describe the overall organization of sign systems as 'languages' - as with Lévi-Strauss and myth, kinship rules and totemism, Lacan and the unconscious and Barthes and Greimas and the 'grammar' of narrative. The primary emphasis is on the whole system - which is seen as 'more than the sum of its parts'. Structuralists engage in a systematic search for 'deep structures' underlying the surface features of phenomena (such as language, society, thought and behaviour). Their textual analysis is synchronic, seeking to delineate the codes and rules which underlie the production of texts by comparing those perceived as belonging to the same system (e.g. a genre) and identifying invariant constituent units. The analysis of specific texts seeks to break down larger, more abstract units into 'minimal significant units' by means of the commutation test, then groups these units by membership of paradigms and identifies the syntagmatic relations which link the units. The search for underlying semantic oppositions is characteristic of structuralist textual analysis. Contemporary social semiotics has moved beyond structuralist analysis of the internal relations of parts within a self-contained system.
Poststructuralism: Whilst poststructuralism is often interpreted simply as 'anti-structuralism', it is worth noting that the label refers to a school of thought which developed after, out of, and in relation to structuralism. Poststructuralism built on and adapted structuralist notions in addition to problematising many of them. For instance, whilst Saussure argued for the arbitrariness of the relationship between the signifier and the signified and the primacy of the signifier, many poststructuralists have taken this notion further, asserting the total disconnection of the signifier and the signified (see Empty signifier). (they tend to be idealists, granting no access to any reality outside signification). Both schools of thought are built on the assumption that we are the subjects of language rather than being simply instrumental 'users' of it, and poststructuralist thinkers have developed further the notion of 'the constitution of the subject', challenging essentialist romantic individualism (the notion that we are autonomous and creative agents with stable, unified 'personalities' and 'original' ideas). Poststructuralist semiotics is post-Saussurean semiotics; it involves a rejection of Saussure's hopes for semiotics as a systematic 'science' which could reveal some stable, underlying master-system - any such system would always involve exclusions and contradictions. For poststructuralists there are no fundamental 'deep structures' underlying forms in an external world. Whilst some semioticians have retained a structuralist concern with the analysis of formal systems, poststructuralist semioticians insist that no such analysis can ever be exhaustive or final. Many poststructuralist semioticians are involved in deconstruction, emphasizing the instability of the relationship between the signifier and the signified and the way in which the dominant ideology seeks to promote the illusion of a transcendental signified. Some poststructuralist semioticians are social semioticians who are concerned with 'signifying practices' in specific social contexts. Such semioticians have extended Saussure's emphasis on meaning as relational to include not only relationships within a self-contained linguistic system, but also the interpretative importance of such broader contexts of language use. Poststructuralist theorists include Derrida, Foucault, Lacan, Kristeva and the later Barthes. Poststructuralism is closely allied with postmodernism and the terms are sometimes used interchangeably.
Semiotics, definition of: Loosely defined as 'the study of signs' or 'the theory of signs', what Saussure called 'semiology' was: 'a science which studies the role of signs as part of social life'. Saussure's use of the term sémiologie dates from 1894 and Peirce's first use of the term semiotic was in 1897. Semiotics has not become widely institutionalized as a formal academic discipline and it is not really a science. It is not purely a method of textual analysis, but involves both the theory and analysis of signs and signifying practices. Beyond the most basic definition, there is considerable variation amongst leading semioticians as to what semiotics involves, although a distinctive concern is with how things signify, and with representational practices and systems (in the form of codes). In the 1970s, semioticians began to shift away from purely structuralist (Saussurean) semiotics concerned with the structural analysis of formal semiotic systems towards a 'poststructuralist' 'social semiotics' - focusing on 'signifying practices' in specific social contexts.
Sign: A sign is a meaningful unit which is interpreted as 'standing for' something other than itself. Signs are found in the physical form of words, images, sounds, acts or objects (this physical form is sometimes known as the sign vehicle). Signs have no intrinsic meaning and become signs only when sign-users invest them with meaning with reference to a recognized code. Semiotics is the study of signs.
Signifier (//signifiant//): For Saussure, this was one of the two parts of the sign (which was indivisible except for analytical purposes). In the Saussurean tradition, the signifier is the form which a sign takes. For Saussure himself, in relation to linguistic signs, this meant a non-material form of the spoken word - 'a sound-image' ('the psychological imprint of the sound, the impression it makes on our senses'). Subsequent semioticians have treated it as the material (or physical) form of the sign - something which can be seen, heard, felt, smelt or tasted (also called the sign vehicle).
Signified (//signifié//): For Saussure, the signified was one of the two parts of the sign (which was indivisible except for analytical purposes). Saussure's signified is the mental concept represented by the signifier (and is not a material thing). This does not exclude the reference of signs to physical objects in the world as well as to abstract concepts and fictional entities, but the signified is not itself a referent in the world (in contrast to Peirce's //object//). It is common for subsequent interpreters to equate the signified with 'content' (matching the form of the signifier in the familiar dualism of 'form and content').
Iconic: A mode in which the signifier is perceived as resembling or imitating the signified (recognizably looking, sounding, feeling, tasting or smelling like it) - being similar in possessing some of its qualities (e.g. a portrait, a diagram, a scale-model, onomatopoeia, metaphors, 'realistic' sounds in music, sound effects in radio drama, a dubbed film soundtrack, imitative gestures) (Peirce).
Indexical: A mode in which the signifier is not purely arbitrary but is directly connected in some way (physically or causally) to the signified - this link can be observed or inferred (e.g. smoke, weathercock, thermometer, clock, spirit-level, footprint, fingerprint, knock on door, pulse rate, rashes, pain) (Peirce).
Symbolic: A mode in which the signifier does not resemble the signified but which is arbitrary or purely conventional - so that the relationship must be learnt (e.g. the word 'stop', a red traffic light, a national flag, a number) (Peirce).
Denotation: The term refers to the relationship between the signifier and its signified. Denotation is routinely treated as the definitional, 'literal', 'obvious' or 'commonsense' meaning of a sign, but semioticians tend to treat it as a signified about which there is a relatively broad consensus. For Barthes, a denotative sign existed within what he called the first order of signification. In this framework connotation is a further sign (or signs) deriving from the signifier of a denotative sign. However, no clear distinction can be made between denotation and //connotation//.
Connotation: The socio-cultural and personal associations produced as a reader decodes a text. The term also refers to the relationship between the signifier and its signified. For Barthes, connotation was a second order of signification which uses the denotative sign (signifier and signified) as its signifier and attaches to it an additional signified. In this framework connotation is a sign which derives from the signifier of a denotative sign (so denotation leads to a chain of connotations).
Paradigm: A paradigm is a set of associated signifiers which are all members of some defining category, but in which each signifier is significantly different. In natural language there are grammatical paradigms such as verbs or nouns. In a given context, one member of the paradigm set is structurally replaceable with another. The use of one signifier (e.g. a particular word or a garment) rather than another from the same paradigm set (e.g. adjectives or hats) shapes the preferred meaning of a text. Paradigmatic relations are the oppositions and contrasts between the signifiers that belong to the same paradigm set from which those used in the text were drawn.
Structuralism: The primary concern of the Structuralists is with systems or structures rather than with referential meaning or the specificities of usage (see //Langue// and //parole//). Structuralists regard each language as a relational system or structure and give priority to the //determining// power of the language system (a principle shared by poststructuralists). They seek to describe the overall organization of sign systems as 'languages' - as with Lévi-Strauss and myth, kinship rules and totemism, Lacan and the unconscious and Barthes and Greimas and the 'grammar' of narrative. The primary emphasis is on the whole system - which is seen as 'more than the sum of its parts'. Structuralists engage in a systematic search for 'deep structures' underlying the surface features of phenomena (such as language, society, thought and behaviour). Their textual analysis is synchronic, seeking to delineate the codes and rules which underlie the production of texts by comparing those perceived as belonging to the same system (e.g. a genre) and identifying invariant constituent units. The analysis of specific texts seeks to break down larger, more abstract units into 'minimal significant units' by means of the commutation test, then groups these units by membership of paradigms and identifies the syntagmatic relations which link the units. The search for underlying semantic oppositions is characteristic of structuralist textual analysis. Contemporary social semiotics has moved beyond structuralist analysis of the internal relations of parts within a self-contained system.
Poststructuralism: Whilst poststructuralism is often interpreted simply as 'anti-structuralism', it is worth noting that the label refers to a school of thought which developed after, out of, and in relation to structuralism. Poststructuralism built on and adapted structuralist notions in addition to problematising many of them. For instance, whilst Saussure argued for the arbitrariness of the relationship between the signifier and the signified and the primacy of the signifier, many poststructuralists have taken this notion further, asserting the total disconnection of the signifier and the signified (see Empty signifier). (they tend to be idealists, granting no access to any reality outside signification). Both schools of thought are built on the assumption that we are the subjects of language rather than being simply instrumental 'users' of it, and poststructuralist thinkers have developed further the notion of 'the constitution of the subject', challenging essentialist romantic individualism (the notion that we are autonomous and creative agents with stable, unified 'personalities' and 'original' ideas). Poststructuralist semiotics is post-Saussurean semiotics; it involves a rejection of Saussure's hopes for semiotics as a systematic 'science' which could reveal some stable, underlying master-system - any such system would always involve exclusions and contradictions. For poststructuralists there are no fundamental 'deep structures' underlying forms in an external world. Whilst some semioticians have retained a structuralist concern with the analysis of formal systems, poststructuralist semioticians insist that no such analysis can ever be exhaustive or final. Many poststructuralist semioticians are involved in deconstruction, emphasizing the instability of the relationship between the signifier and the signified and the way in which the dominant ideology seeks to promote the illusion of a transcendental signified. Some poststructuralist semioticians are social semioticians who are concerned with 'signifying practices' in specific social contexts. Such semioticians have extended Saussure's emphasis on meaning as relational to include not only relationships within a self-contained linguistic system, but also the interpretative importance of such broader contexts of language use. Poststructuralist theorists include Derrida, Foucault, Lacan, Kristeva and the later Barthes. Poststructuralism is closely allied with postmodernism and the terms are sometimes used interchangeably.
From Semiotics for Beginners